David Cameron, the Prime Minister of the UK, said that companies like Google are immorally minimizing tax bills

Google has managed to skip paying about $1.6 billion USD (£1 billion) in taxes by way of the island Bermuda -- and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom isn't happy.

Google sent £6 billion through Bermuda over the course of last year, which halved its 2011 tax bill. In fact, Google funneled 80 percent of its global revenue through the island and ended up paying about £1 billion less to the government.

Google's Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said this "is called capitalism."

“We pay lots of taxes; we pay them in the legally prescribed ways,” said Schmidt. “I am very proud of the structure that we set up. We did it based on the incentives that the governments offered us to operate.”

David Cameron, the Prime Minister of the UK, said that companies like Google are immorally minimizing tax bills and need to be stopped. He even wrote a letter to fellow leaders of the G8 requesting a global crackdown on tax avoidance for large companies such as Google and Starbucks.

“I do believe we all have a common interest in being able to tell our taxpayers who work hard and pay their fair share of taxes that we will make sure others do the same,” wrote Cameron in an open letter to the G8.

Google's UK Head Matt Brittin said politicians are the ones who set tax rates, and that Google is playing by their rules.

Google funneled £2.6 billion of British revenue through Bermuda, which cut its UK tax bill by £200 million.

In April of last year, it was reported that Apple made $9.5 billion USD in Britain for 2011, but only paid 0.16 percent in taxes. Amazon was also targeted for its headquarters in the tiny European Union nation of Luxembourg and Google's placement in Ireland with subsidiaries in the Caribbean and Luxembourg for more tax dodging gains.

The difference is that you, as an individual can't buy a PO Box in Bermuda, call that your primary residence and then cut your US tax bill in half - that would be considered tax fraud. Yet as a corporation, it is perfectly legal.

I would be surprised if Google has a single full-time employee in Bermuda yet they get to claim it as their primary headquarters.

Can you name a company that doesn't do that? We only pick on Apple and Google because they are a couple of today's top earners and this is a tech site...

It's legal. It's legal because long ago companies paid off the right congressman and senators to not do anything about it. If it ever comes up again, companies pay off the new round of hoods we send to Washington. Google and Apple are just doing what they can because that is how business is done in the USA. Take that away and companies like them may just move their whole business offshore..

then make it illegal then.and I don't think it's legal anymore for members of congress to use insider information to make investments now. If i remember correctly a law was passed just for that not long ago.

Corporations have more power than the government. Corporations literally have the government in their pockets. The law above does nothing but appease the ignorant public that something is being done - when the truth is it's business as usual.

If corporations had as much power as you claim then ObamaCare would not exist, many of the regulations we have today would not exist, unions would not be able to extort money from worker involuntarily and they would pay no taxes at all, perhaps harvesting us for our oily discharges so they could sell them back to us as makeup.

In truth some BIG businesses have some government power and they use that power to push out competition, but so do the people. You may not like what the people vote for but they do have power in our government and most of us are perfectly happy with the status quo.

lol you really think ObamaCare is bad for big corporations? what if I told the pharmaceutical industry will still get their money regardless of the ObamaCare or not, heck they will probably get even more after all if you were sick and had no health care insurance you would stay at home and give no money to pharmaceutical companies now well you go and enjoy your benefits and the pharmaceutical companies will get their cut.Be no fool the pharmaceutical industry hope is that even the homeless get health care.

Are you sure? The government has guns, and the legal authority to use violence against you, and you're more afraid of a corporation?! Limiting the power of government is the only way to prevent the corporatism that is what I think you actually fear.

quote: Are you sure? The government has guns, and the legal authority to use violence against you, and you're more afraid of a corporation?! Limiting the power of government is the only way to prevent the corporatism that is what I think you actually fear.

Who actually writes the laws in USA? Big hint: it's not the congressmen and senators on Capitol Hill, they just pass/vote down based on party lines and special interests.

Corporations use the government to enforce unjust laws against you, and you're saying I should be more scared of the government sending its Secret Service agents to my house? I don't think you're paying attention.

Actually, you just reinforced my argument. If the government was limited in its power as it is supposed to be, there would be no opportunity for the corporations, as well as special interest organizations to bend the ear of sympathetic lawmakers. As you say, it's the government enforcing these laws.

I don't hate on Apple, google or anything person or company that uses all tax deductions available to them. I do however find it funny that Apple and google both are run by Liberals and support liberal agenda. Yet they do excactly what liberals are supposedly against just look how they demonized Romney for this same thing.

While I personally think there should be no corporate tax rate, I do not agree completely with what you mention, as that would be investment income that is taxed much, much lower than wages (ex: Mitt Romney).

My personal opinion is to get rid of corporate taxes, and just have 1 flat tax with no deductions on all income from any source where you pay no taxes for the first say 30k. Stop all entitlements, stop all deductions, shelters, etc.

Wont ever happen because too many people loose their power in Washington and bribes (I mean campaign contributions) would dry up as it would not be neccessary from corps.

You really think nobody would invest if they actually had to pay taxes?

You opposition is indicative of the attitudes of a great majority in this country. Lets make everybody else pay their "fair" share, but what is fair only means what helps you and hurts others.

We need to change things across the board. Make all income equal, does not matter where it comes from. Lets get everybody paying the same, no more loopholes, no more entitlements, no need for much IRS, as the tax code would be simple.